Day 264 - Thursday, September 11th

[papalobo]

[Max sleeps; has as he'd thought, he achieves nothing, and he's not even a small-talk source of comfort or somebody to soothe Ash's nerves before his two AM meeting with yet another Chinese teenager. Something about Chinese teenagers seems to always spell trouble for Ash, and now he's in a mess involving no less than four of them.

But Max doesn't move. If Ash comes to see him, setting that pill counter and the note about the smoothie, he may notice he hasn't so much as shifted a finger. Ash has had to turn to painting, but there's no need to lock that room before, or even for a long while after. The only one in this house besides him is a breathing corpse.

But Shawn's ready and waiting for him at one, prepared to be decked out a wires that Ling's likely to hang him with if he finds out about them.]

Comments

[papalobo]

[The door to the hallway is still open; when someone passes by to go to the stairs, they may see him there on the fire escape.]

[jadedlynx]

[ He doesn't need to see into the bathroom; he's not visible unless they come closer to the window. Ash knows it's important to be out of sight until he makes a move. ]

[papalobo]

[The talk continues; the man gets a phone call and reports that the other is dead, and the monkey has been taken. Yes, he's gotten a report from an old woman next door that a white boy was seen leaving with a husk of meat that was probably the monkey. Chang Dai's window has been broken in. The police have been called. They're finding his car now. Through it, the old woman beside him is insistent on getting the dead body out of her house.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Call their neighbors to help move it. He's calling his partners in crime. Are the other men so close?

A boy, man really, finally shows up at Ash's car. He knows what to look for so even if Shawn decides to hide, he'll knock on the window and give the offered word. ]

[papalobo]

[Damn it. As tempted as he is to wait it out, he does know he'll cause more problems trying to make himself useful right now. So up he pops, ready to go.

Leaving his savior behind. No matter how cool and competent Ash may be, he can't help but worry.]

[jadedlynx]

[ The guy would mention that the few who know he's missing have been worried so even if he's as gruff as the usual gangster, Shawn gets a welcome back before they drive off.

Ash is at least safe while hanging outside of the window. Relatively so. ]

[papalobo]

[The man is the first to pass by, however, still on the phone. His eyes might glance to the fire escape in passing, knowing it had to be where the break in--and out--came from, but he continues on to the steps... at least for the first three steps before deciding he should at least turn around and go close that window.]

[jadedlynx]

[ He hears the steps. He could jump down and run, but they have Max. Ash has a limit on how much movement he'll be allowed before they reach out to him and make demands.

It's the best-case scenario if the guy hangs up the phone before making it to the window. Either way, still hoping for the silent approach, Ash stands right before the guy gets close enough to see him or be within reach of the gun pointed at him. The finger to his lips indicates that he should be silent. ]

[papalobo]

[He continues talking as he approaches; Ash can't look at the translator at the same time he watches, but his words come to an awkward, stunned stop as he sees him. Ash can already hear the other end talking, likely asking what the sudden silence is about.]

[jadedlynx]

[ No, but he has it close by. When the man actually stops, Ash raises it up a bit. ]

Make an excuse to hang up.

[ It's so quite that it might even be difficult for him to hear. ]

[papalobo]

She shi zhengzai yong qiang zhizhe wo, rang wo gua dianhua...

[He speaks, tone as even as possible, eyes on Ash's. Ash can't hear the answer on the phone.]

[jadedlynx]

[ He can look at the translation app. He's a fast reader, and Ash was sure to stop the guy out of reaching distance of the gun. ]

[papalobo]

["The lynx is pointing a gun at me, telling me to hang up."]

[jadedlynx]

None of you are very good at instructions, are you? Give me the phone while you have the chance to save your neck.

[papalobo]

[He grits his teeth and stares, debating his options.]

[jadedlynx]

You have three seconds before I take it anyway.

[ Ash isn't going to let him buy time. ]

[papalobo]

[He hangs up, hands raising slowly.]

[jadedlynx]

That was a stupid move. You could have gotten out of this a lot easier if you just used your brain from the start.

I'm giving you one last chance. My goal is hostage rescue, not leaving a trail of bodies behind, but you've seen I'm willing to do it. So, call them back, and tell them I ran when you wouldn't obey. Ask if they want you to pursue. Then, we get the hostages, and you can do whatever the hell you want.

[papalobo]

You already got the hostage. What do you want?

[jadedlynx]

The panda and whatever you call Sing.

[ And Max, but Ash worries that news hasn't traveled far enough yet. ]

[papalobo]

Look around the place. You think we got room for anyone else here?

[jadedlynx]

You think I killed your buddy from outside? I've been in there, I know you don't have room for anybody else. Your beds suggest you did, or you'll all into some bloodletting thing, but I don't care. You're going to take me to where they are.

[papalobo]

[The fresh dead body and the flippant reminder of who made it causes him to eye that gun more pointedly.]

Sorry to break it to you, but I don't know. I wasn't with the team that came from the mansion.

[jadedlynx]

You guys have bad communication skills, huh? That would be easy to believe, but my friend came from the mansion, and you knew right where he was.

[papalobo]

We got him delivered to us. We expected Master Ling to be with him.